St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox are pleased to announce that former Minnesota Twins outfielder Jacque Jones will be in attendance as this year’s opening night guest.  Jones will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Home Opener presented by Coborn’s on Saturday, May 30^th at 7:05 p.m. at Joe Faber Field as the Rox take on the Thunder Bay Border Cats. 

In addition to throwing out the first pitch, Jones will be signing autographs and taking pictures with fans throughout the night which will feature the season’s first of seven fireworks shows.

Jones was drafted by the Twins in the 2^nd round of the 1996 amateur draft following his college career at the University of Southern California where he was named a first team All-American outfielder.  Later that summer he won a bronze medal representing the United States at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.  Jones made his major league debut with the Twins in 1999 and remained a starting outfielder with the team through the 2005 season.  In that time, Jones played in 976 games with the Twins with a batting average of .279.

Following his seven seasons with the Twins, Jones spent time with the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Florida Marlins.  He appeared in 1,302 career games hitting 165 homeruns and 630 runs batted in over ten seasons in the major leagues.  Following his playing career, Jones spent time as the hitting coach for the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

“Jacque Jones was a big part of three division titles and three seasons of 90 or more wins for the Twins.  I think it will be great for baseball fans in Central Minnesota to have a chance to meet a former Twins player who was an integral part of a lot of very successful Twins teams,” Rox Vice President Scott Schreiner said. “We are very excited to have Jacque in St. Cloud for the Rox home opener.”

This season will be the Rox fourth playing in St. Cloud.  Cy Young award winner Bret Saberhagen, and two-time World Series champions Greg Gagne and Gene Larkin have previously thrown out the first pitch during Rox home openers.

Single game tickets for all 36 Rox home games during the 2015 season including the home opener go on sale starting Friday, May 1^st at 9:00 a.m. at the Rox ticket office located at the Municipal Athletic Complex, over the phone by calling (320) 240-9798 or 24 hours a day online at www.stcloudrox.com.  

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22^nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest summer collegiate baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com.